Holly
by DelicateSnowflakes
Summary: Simple title, story revolves around Holly. Set years after Breaking Bad's finale, how long can they keep the truth from her? How much longer can they shoo her late father's life away like a shadow? Holly isn't set to give up on that part of her life that's missing just yet.
1. Home, Sweet Home

_Guess I got what I deserved,_

 _Kept you waiting there too long my love,_

 _All that time without a word,_

 _Didn't know you'd think that I'd forget,_

 _Or I'd regret,_

 _The special love I had for you,_

 _My baby blue_

The radio crackled away, but the listener couldn't bring herself to tune it properly. Instead, she tugged the ends of her sleeves down over her wrists further and curled up in her seat. The motel room was pretty shabby, with its peeling wallpaper and stained mattress. Still, she couldn't bring herself to grab her bag and return home, whatever home really was. She glanced over once again at the radio, playing the tape over and over in her head.

' _Holly, I'm very proud of you, and I…I think about you all the time. Wherever you go, whatever you do in life, always know that your family loves you very, very much.'_

* * *

Flynn opened the door with a breezy smile on his face. It had been months since he had last visited his family, but he couldn't be happier with the job he was currently working on. Ever since he received the enormous amount of money from the Schwartzes, he was able to provide for his family and more. However, he and his mother both knew deep down where all of that money came from, and it certainly was not from the Schwartzes out of the kindness of their hearts.

Still, it got Holly into boarding school, paid for their housing and helped all of them to survive. They were even able to give Hank a funeral worth remembering with pride. He was a true hero, even if the villain was someone too close to home to even consider. Flynn maintained with that pride that his hero of an uncle died strong and brave, even though it stung to even approach how he got there in the first place.

Holly was setting the cutlery down on the dining table beside her aunt Marie, who chattered away aimlessly before taking notice of Flynn's presence. Immediately, once she had noticed, she flung her arms around her nephew.

"Oh Flynn! It has been such a long time! You're just in time for dinner!" She beamed up at him, giving his back a reassuring rub as if to say 'I'm glad you're here, all is well.'

Flynn was officially his name; as soon as he was legally able he changed the Walter Jr to Flynn White. He wanted as little of a shadow to be cast on him from his late father as possible. Holly, therefore, never knew him of anything other than Flynn.

The younger of the siblings smiled over at her brother with a quiet 'Hi, Flynn', before striding back off into the kitchen to grab the salad bowl. She was never much of a talker; she grew up quietly observing the world around her. Her mind buzzed with many unanswered questions and the unease of her mother put their relationship on edge. She would never talk about her father, whoever he was, or why there were so many secrets being kept from her. It ended up with boarding school, something that Holly loathed and loved more than anything in the world.

The three of them sat at the table and made small talk while they waited for Skyler. She was running late, as usual. It seemed that as soon as she was able she thrust herself back into work, despite having all the money in the world. She would only wear tight suits there, and oversized clothing at home. Her eyes were always vacant in some way; they never truly lit up, something that frustrates Holly endlessly. Why wont anyone just tell her why her mother is so deadbeat?

Holly drew herself closer to the table, brushing down her dark blonde hair smoothly with her fingers. The door clicked open a few moments later and in walked Skyler White, clad in a tight grey business suit holding a large bag in her free hand. She came inside to the swell of greetings from her family, and dropped the bag she was holding to embrace her eldest child. The two of them looked more and more like Walt each day.

Her gaze turned to that of her daughter, who embraced her in a less comfortable fashion before returning to her seat. She saw the curiosity biting away inside Holly, the chew marks left on her lips and nails from endless trails of thought, and the misted fog of resentment for her lack of knowledge hidden carefully behind big blue eyes. She wished with a heart full of guilt and anger, that her daughter would just drop it already.

The table was buzzing with laughter and chatters from the two sisters and Flynn, while Holly pushed her food about her lilac plate quietly and nodded politely when appropriate. Her mind whirred away, picturing an imaginary father sitting at the top of the table. What would he look like? Would he be small and reserved, or strong and bold like Uncle Hank supposedly was? Would he have kept her in the dark and sent her off to some boarding school too?

"So, Holly, I hear that now you're back Mom's gonna get you driving!" Flynn smiled kindly at his sister, his eyes wrinkling at the edges with genuine excitement.

"Oh," Holly began, lowering her fork to the plate, "Yes, I suppose so."

Flynn's speech was greatly improving over the years; he had a certain charm to the flow of his words, which suited his personality, in Holly's humble opinion. The four of them almost returned to a silence, when Holly gathered her courage and piped up.

"Did Dad teach you how to drive?"

There was a very long pause, a short exchange of glances, and a nervous swallow from Flynn as he realized she wanted an answer to the question whether he liked it or not.

"Yeah, he helped me out a bit."

Her eyes glossed over with an unreadable expression, and she finally began to eat. The tension could be cut with a knife, but Holly didn't notice. Skyler glanced down at her plate, having lost her appetite, and excused herself from the table. It went very quiet after that.


	2. A Wooden Box

"We're driving all this way for a yard sale?"

"Yes, Holly, we are driving all this way for a yard sale. It'll do us both some good." Skyler pushed the sunglasses further up her nose, not taking her eyes off the road for even a second.

Holly crossed her arms after putting the little buds of her headphones back in her ears and settled back against the seat, looking out of the window absentmindedly at the passing scenery.

Marie glanced at her sister, who was tight-lipped and vacant as always. It had been so many years, but Skyler had seemed to turn to stone while time passed itself by. She hated Walt, by Gods did she hate him for what he did to Hank, but she had a lot to be grateful to him for too. Holly, in her opinion, deserved to know who her father was, but Skyler would not have any of it. If she even dared to bring the matter up, Skyler would only mention Hank at some point in the argument, and she couldn't face the heartache over and over again.

The two made conversation, as small and pointless as it was, until they pulled up to the little clearing where the sale took place. There were rows upon rows of things that were trash to treasure in the eyes of the beholders coming to buy. Holly made her way down the grassy aisles, scanning over each little bench with passive boredom.

Then she saw it.

It was a bit tattered, sure, but she found it to be extraordinary. A box made out of Peruvian walnut with inlaid zebrawood, rubbed with tung oil to enrich and darken it. She gently ran her fingers along the edge of it, smooth as glass, fitted with pegs rather than screws. It was, at least to her, beautiful.

Quickly, she leafed out the money and handed it over to the seller, who eyed her for a brief moment before gesturing for her to take the box. He was old, weary, and scrawny. If it hadn't been for the large overcoat, she was sure he would have track marks running all the way down his arms.

With a sigh of triumph, the young woman lifted her new box and dreamed up how she would use it. There were still boxes left from their move, some of which she still had yet to look into, and surely while Skyler is at work she would have all the time in the world to smuggle some secrets into her box. Maybe, just maybe, she'd even get to see a picture of her Dad.


End file.
